Adaptation of the Endolithic Biome in Antarctic Volcanic Rocks
Endolithic microorganisms, ranging from microeukaryotes to bacteria and archaea, live within the cracks and crevices of rocks. Deception Island in Antarctica constitutes an extreme environment in which endoliths face environmental threats such as intense cold, lack of light in winter, high solar rad...
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ftcsic:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/336448 2024-02-11T09:58:37+01:00 Adaptation of the Endolithic Biome in Antarctic Volcanic Rocks Hidalgo-Arias, Andrea Muñoz-Hisado, Víctor Valles, Pilar Geyer, Adelina Garcia-Lopez, Eva Cid, Cristina 2023-09-07 http://hdl.handle.net/10261/336448 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241813824 unknown Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute doi:10.3390/ijms241813824 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24 (18): 13824 (2023) http://hdl.handle.net/10261/336448 open artículo 2023 ftcsic https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241813824 2024-01-16T11:53:35Z Endolithic microorganisms, ranging from microeukaryotes to bacteria and archaea, live within the cracks and crevices of rocks. Deception Island in Antarctica constitutes an extreme environment in which endoliths face environmental threats such as intense cold, lack of light in winter, high solar radiation in summer, and heat emitted as the result of volcanic eruptions. In addition, the endolithic biome is considered the harshest one on Earth, since it suffers added threats such as dryness or lack of nutrients. Even so, samples from this hostile environment, collected at various points throughout the island, hosted diverse and numerous microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, diatoms, ciliates, flagellates and unicellular algae. These endoliths were first identified by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). To understand the molecular mechanisms of adaptation of these endoliths to their environment, genomics techniques were used, and prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms were identified by metabarcoding, sequencing the V3–V4 and V4–V5 regions of the 16S and 18S rRNA genes, respectively. Subsequently, the sequences were analyzed by bioinformatic methods that allow their metabolism to be deduced from the taxonomy. The results obtained concluded that some of these microorganisms have activated the biosynthesis routes of pigments such as prodigiosin or flavonoids. These adaptation studies also revealed that microorganisms defend themselves against environmental toxins by activating metabolic pathways for the degradation of compounds such as ethylbenzene, xylene and dioxins and for the biosynthesis of antioxidant molecules such as glutathione. Finally, these Antarctic endolithic microorganisms are of great interest in astrobiology since endolithic settings are environmentally analogous to the primitive Earth or the surfaces of extraterrestrial bodies. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Deception Island Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) Antarctic Deception Island ENVELOPE(-60.633,-60.633,-62.950,-62.950) International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24 18 13824 |
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Digital.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council) |
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unknown |
description |
Endolithic microorganisms, ranging from microeukaryotes to bacteria and archaea, live within the cracks and crevices of rocks. Deception Island in Antarctica constitutes an extreme environment in which endoliths face environmental threats such as intense cold, lack of light in winter, high solar radiation in summer, and heat emitted as the result of volcanic eruptions. In addition, the endolithic biome is considered the harshest one on Earth, since it suffers added threats such as dryness or lack of nutrients. Even so, samples from this hostile environment, collected at various points throughout the island, hosted diverse and numerous microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, diatoms, ciliates, flagellates and unicellular algae. These endoliths were first identified by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). To understand the molecular mechanisms of adaptation of these endoliths to their environment, genomics techniques were used, and prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms were identified by metabarcoding, sequencing the V3–V4 and V4–V5 regions of the 16S and 18S rRNA genes, respectively. Subsequently, the sequences were analyzed by bioinformatic methods that allow their metabolism to be deduced from the taxonomy. The results obtained concluded that some of these microorganisms have activated the biosynthesis routes of pigments such as prodigiosin or flavonoids. These adaptation studies also revealed that microorganisms defend themselves against environmental toxins by activating metabolic pathways for the degradation of compounds such as ethylbenzene, xylene and dioxins and for the biosynthesis of antioxidant molecules such as glutathione. Finally, these Antarctic endolithic microorganisms are of great interest in astrobiology since endolithic settings are environmentally analogous to the primitive Earth or the surfaces of extraterrestrial bodies. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Hidalgo-Arias, Andrea Muñoz-Hisado, Víctor Valles, Pilar Geyer, Adelina Garcia-Lopez, Eva Cid, Cristina |
spellingShingle |
Hidalgo-Arias, Andrea Muñoz-Hisado, Víctor Valles, Pilar Geyer, Adelina Garcia-Lopez, Eva Cid, Cristina Adaptation of the Endolithic Biome in Antarctic Volcanic Rocks |
author_facet |
Hidalgo-Arias, Andrea Muñoz-Hisado, Víctor Valles, Pilar Geyer, Adelina Garcia-Lopez, Eva Cid, Cristina |
author_sort |
Hidalgo-Arias, Andrea |
title |
Adaptation of the Endolithic Biome in Antarctic Volcanic Rocks |
title_short |
Adaptation of the Endolithic Biome in Antarctic Volcanic Rocks |
title_full |
Adaptation of the Endolithic Biome in Antarctic Volcanic Rocks |
title_fullStr |
Adaptation of the Endolithic Biome in Antarctic Volcanic Rocks |
title_full_unstemmed |
Adaptation of the Endolithic Biome in Antarctic Volcanic Rocks |
title_sort |
adaptation of the endolithic biome in antarctic volcanic rocks |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10261/336448 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241813824 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-60.633,-60.633,-62.950,-62.950) |
geographic |
Antarctic Deception Island |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Deception Island |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Deception Island |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Deception Island |
op_relation |
doi:10.3390/ijms241813824 International Journal of Molecular Sciences 24 (18): 13824 (2023) http://hdl.handle.net/10261/336448 |
op_rights |
open |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms241813824 |
container_title |
International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
container_volume |
24 |
container_issue |
18 |
container_start_page |
13824 |
_version_ |
1790594311666008064 |